Peg of Old Drury

Peg of Old Drury is a 1935 British historical film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle, Cedric Hardwicke and Margaretta Scott. The film is a biopic of eighteenthcentury Irish actress Peg Woffington. It was based on the play Masks and Faces by Charles Reade and Tom Taylor. It contains passages of eighteenth century Shakespearian performance, from The Merchant of Venice, Richard III and As You Like It.

The New York Times wrote, with superb acting, photography that is effective and unusual, yet not bizarre, and direction that is gentleness and good taste itself, Peg of Old Drury is one of the finest cinema production ever to come out of England, or of anywhere else, for that matter while TV Guide wrote, Neagle and Hardwicke give impressive performances, and the excerpts from Shakespeare and Jonson are flawlessly mounted. Much of the films power derives from the screenplay by actor Malleson in his first screenwriting assignment. Graham Greene, writing for The Spectator, gave a more mixed review suggesting that there is no historical truth to be found anywhere in the deft, neat tale. Greene remarked on the attractiveness of Neagle and found that the film was very pretty, but concluded that prettiness is a quality one wants, if at all, in small quantities.

Source: Wikipedia